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More thinking about life and work in the context of today's blog post on how I have a new job. One realization: I like being part of a team. Thread insidehighered.com/blogs/just-vis…
As I thought about my future in the wake of writing and publishing Why They Can't Write and The Writer's Practice, I considered establishing some kind of solo consultancy/entrepreneurial type thing. I had some great advice on how to do it, and it seemed plausible.
But the more I thought about it, the less enthused I became. It had the potential to be lucrative beyond my dreams, but the kind of work it would've required really didn't appeal to me. Networking, selling, etc...I just couldn't see me doing that.
The other route was to try to up my public writing game, really intentionally work to try to grab some limelight, maybe turn myself into some kind of writing guru figure who gets quoted in shit and big time speaking gigs. Parts of that didn't appeal either.
Don't get me wrong, I love speaking gigs, and having a chance to meet with likeminded folks is really fun, but I couldn't take the thought of commoditizing myself to fit into that space. I want to be able to share my ideas inside of communities, not broadcast them willy nilly.
Please don't take these stances as necessarily born out of integrity. I was focused entirely on what I like to do and can spend my time doing. Those two routes - entrepreneur or guru - simply did not appeal to me.
When the chance to do some contract work for my now employer appeared I took it, at least partly for the money, but once in it, I realized how I genuinely enjoyed the work itself, the process of figuring stuff out and communicating it through research. It's fun and interesting.
I recognized that for me, the work itself was going to be more important to my day-to-day happiness than pursuing money or attention. This work has me getting up in the morning looking forward to what I have to do. What else could I want.
There's some compromises. I have an ego and the writing and thinking I do for Willow Research will be largely hidden from view for the benefit of clients, as it should be. I do enjoy the attention that my writing sometimes brings, that's closed off for this work.
But it's hard to overestimate how fun it is to be part of a team, to be able to collaborate and learn from other people on these projects. I've missed it. It's largely absent from my academic career, particularly having been contingent.
Having a secure paycheck and insurance is a nice security blanket too. I was doing fine without it, but maybe this is more than fine. I will not run out of work to do and I will be fairly compensated for it. This is decidedly different from a purely freelance writing lifestyle.
The experience of deciding to take this job has reminded me how complicated things are when it comes to forging a path, making a life that's consistent with work. It of course also makes me think how poorly we seem to do by students in allowing them space to consider this.
We are more than the sum of our economic contributions to the market. I'm grateful that I have an education and experiences that has allowed me to act according to those values. I worry that we don't extend the same opportunity to students coming through the system today.
